Living With the Vinaya: An Ethnography of Monasticism in Myanmar

Ryosuke Kuramoto

Around the first century BCE, Buddhist monks formed monasteries and established relationships with kings and lay people. The rules monks live by, the Vinaya, are a pivotal source of meaning for them and their dealings with society and form the basis of multiple monasticisms across geographical regions and throughout history. The ways in which the Vinaya is understood and practiced, therefore, must take into account the kind of monasticism that emerges from it. In Living with the Vinaya, Ryosuke Kuramoto examines the process of creating monasticism in contemporary Myanmar by focusing on how monks acquire, possess, and consume material goods.

To live as a monk means to obtain resources from society and to own and use these according to monastic rules. Over the centuries, as monks interacted more with the world beyond the monastery, the question of what a monk “should be” became a concern for not only monks, but also government authorities and lay people. How monks interpreted and observed the Vinaya became a question of legitimacy and power. Kuramoto’s ethnographic analysis reveals the constant (re)creation of monasticism in Myanmar resulting from the interactions between monks and these groups in response to this question. He identifies some of the key mechanisms by which monasticism and broader Buddhist institutions are created and transformed and concludes that monastic governance is inseparable from the Buddhist state and the society that surrounds it.

Table of Contents

Explanatory Notes
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part 1: Macro-Level Monasticism
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: History of Macro-Level Monasticism in Myanmar
Part 2: Characteristics of Meso-Level Monasticism
Chapter 3: The Dynamics of Gaing and Life Course of Monks in Myanmar
Chapter 4: City-Dwelling Monks
Chapter 5: Monasteries: Present Conditions and Problems
Part 3: Dynamics of Micro-Level Monasticism
Chapter 6: Two Scholarly Forest Monasteries
Chapter 7: Challenge to Renounce Society
Chapter 8: Challenge of Self-Governance
Chapter 9: Conclusion
References

Ryosuke Kuramoto
Living With the Vinaya: An Ethnography of Monasticism in Myanmar (Contemporary Buddhism)

University of Hawai’i Press, 226 pages, 2024.11, ISBN: 9780824897550

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